1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ponytail holder device and a method of manufacturing such a device. More specifically, the ponytail holder device is for use by the wearer to present a ponytail holder. The ponytail holder can be preformed into a ponytail onion which may be presented on the wearer""s head, thus enhancing the style of the wearer""s hair, the ponytail holder device having the appearance of the wearer""s hair. The ponytail holder device can be easily incorporated into the user""s hair style and positionable by the wearer in a variety of ways in order to facilitate different styles. The ponytail holder device and the method of manufacturing such a device and preformed ponytail onion are cost effective to manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of ponytail holding, ponytail onion, or bun forming, devices and methods of manufacturing thereof have been known for many years. Such ponytail holding onion devices and methods of manufacturing have been used to enhance wearer""s hair styles. Typically, the ponytail holding devices were made of an elastic type material that would be banded around the hair of the wearer to create a ponytail. In fact, the rubber band has been utilized to create ponytails for many years. The ponytail would then have to be meticulously formed into a ponytail onion. There have been other variations of the rubber band used to bind hair into a ponytail such as the use of ribbon. However, these methods had their limitations as to what the wearer could do to enhance the look of the ponytail and often required the use of additional fasteners, such as hair pins, to complete the hair styling. Otherwise, the banding methods would be visible in the wearers hair. The wearer would form a ponytail onion after fastening the ponytail and inevitably the ponytail onion created by the wearer would lose its shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,101 issued in 1998 to Iwata for a HAIR BUNDLING CORE AND METHOD OF USING THE CORE (hereinafter xe2x80x9cIwatexe2x80x9d) discloses a hair bundling core made of an elastic cylinder. While xe2x80x9cIwataxe2x80x9d taught a device that would hold a ponytail, or bundle of hair, it specifically requires the use of hair fastening pins to create a ponytail onion. Moreover, the user of the xe2x80x9cIwataxe2x80x9d device must use their own hair to cover the device and further fasten their own hair to cover the xe2x80x9cIwataxe2x80x9d device. Heretofore each device used to create a ponytail onion, or further bundle hair, has required some masking of the method used to bundle the users hair or the bundling device would otherwise be visible in the wearers hair.
Other related patents suffer from the same limitations discussed above. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,059 issued in 1998 to Barrows for a HAIR STYLING IMPLEMENT AND METHOD (hereinafter xe2x80x9cBarrowsxe2x80x9d) discloses an elongated, rectangular wire frame covered by fabric. The xe2x80x9cBarrowsxe2x80x9d device contemplates wrapping the wearer""s hair around the implement. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,161 issued in 1998 to Kohanek for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A HAIR FASTENER (hereinafter xe2x80x9cKohanekxe2x80x9d) discloses a hair fastening device which incorporates a hooking mechanism and discloses a long cylindrical shape that is meant to be used as a method to cover other fastening devices such as rubber bands. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,798 issued in 1953 to Carvell for a CHIGNON FOUNDATION (hereinafter xe2x80x9cCarvellxe2x80x9d) discloses a device for forming and maintaining a hair roll for use by woman when they are arranging their hair and is constructed of a loose mesh. xe2x80x9cCarvellxe2x80x9d contemplates using the wearer""s own hair and holding it in place by means of a mesh material. All of the aforementioned prior art requires additional fastening or the prior art is visible as a hair holding device on the wearer""s head. In addition none of the prior art discloses a method of placing a perfectly formed ponytail onion on a wearer""s head.
These patents do not, and cannot, resolve the problems addressed by the present invention. Even though the present invention addresses some of the same difficulties experienced in the art as does the prior patents, it does so in a new an inventive way. Moreover, the present invention embodies advantages never found or contemplated by the prior art which are described in greater detail below.
The use of ponytail holding devices, or bun forming devices, is well known. To date many of these ponytail holding devices, hair bundlers, and bun forming devices, are used to allow a wearer to create a ponytail, ponytail onion, or bun, as a hair desired style. The ponytail onion is a stylish addition to one""s hairstyle.
While styling one""s hair it is advantageous to be able to quickly apply a ponytail holder in a quick and effective manner. It is also advantageous to have a ponytail holder device that blends into ones own hair. Therefore, it is desirable to have a ponytail holder device that may placed on one""s head and blend into the wearer""s hair.
It is the object of this invention to provide a ponytail holding device that overcomes the limitations and faults of current ponytail holders, or hair bundlers when used by a wearer. A further object of this invention is to provide a ponytail holding device that can be utilized by a wearer.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a ponytail holding device that blends into a wearer""s hair without further covering of the device with the wearer""s own hair.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a preform ponytail holding device that is shaped into a ponytail onion that will maintain its shape.
Another object of the invention is to provide an method for creating the ponytail holding device and ponytail onion contemplated herein.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a cost effective means of providing a ponytail holding device. Due to the nature of the use of a ponytail holding device, a ponytail holding device will degrade with use and become not usable over time. Therefore, it is important that materials that are task effective as well as cost effective be used in the construction of the ponytail holding device. As seen herein the material selection for the present invention is only limited by a few specific performance criteria but in the preferred embodiment of the invention material cost is also a selection criteria.
In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.